Actually you don’t know the current levels of infection because the state are managing that information stream .
The R number is certainly manipulated and emphasis on the raw death numbers rather than percentages has scared the population into sense of fear that is probably not called for.
Condolences to those that have fallen victim and all their families including all those in the NHS and those in care homes where frankly the national response has been pitiful to say the least.
The levels of minor infection and recovery rates should be far more prominently reported and understood imho.
Its far from a death sentence for the vast vast majority and indeed huge areas of the U.K. have little or just few and in the case of some rural areas NO reported infections .
Even in the high death rated areas the figures need to be more nuanced especially when those very high levels such as Harrow have receiving hospitals serving several neighbouring boroughs and even further afield .
The two metre zone is purely political and without much international evidence of its effectiveness, indeed other countries use a much smaller zone when social distancing
The UK government initiatives - late to the party have always been primarily targeted at reducing the risk burden to the heath service facilities rather than containing the spread . Indeed they don’t deny this explicit intention - They went for a LONGER period of risk time however believed that would somehow reduce the potential burdens .
They expected large levels of infections in some the inner cities hence those emergency facilities . None were really needed in hindsight and anyway they couldn’t even staff them .
As to the now proposed two week quarantine on return for other EU states in particular this is I believe another attempt at populism based on poor scientific evidence and yes a level xenophobia over a certain other pressing issue.
This country including myself ( layed off) absolutely need to accelerate the return to productivity and work pretty much right now imho.
Globally second waves haven’t caused significantly more rapid reinfection from what I see and read .
The economic damage done combined with with another political movement has probably seen the end of rather many 50 + olds careers rather to early.
Sufice to say I also expect the EU/EEA quarantine period to evaporate within weeks right now.